Why Thrones director thinks those illegal downloads don't matter

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Game of Thrones was the most-pirated show on television last year, but at least one member of the hit series' crew isn't too worried.

Speaking at a writers' festival at the University of Western Australia, David Petrarca -- who directed the season-two Thrones episodes "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "Garden of Bones" -- said all those illegal downloads don't matter much, so long as "cultural buzz" keeps propelling the show's popularity.

"That's how they [shows] survive," Petrarca said.

Though some episodes of Game of Thrones have reportedly garnered more than four million illegal downloads, the show is also earning ever-bigger sums of money for HBO. Last week season two was released on DVD and Blu-ray, and according to EW it immediately broke HBO sales records with a first day increase of 44 percent from season one DVD sales. Season two ratings also posted big gains from season one, and it wouldn't be surprising to see another big spike when season three returns March 31.

So is Petrarca right, or will all those people who'd rather torrent the show than pay for an HBO subscription eventually dethrone TV's most ambitious fantasy series?